Colloyd Day 2019
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: A collection of Colloyd stories for Colloyd Day 2019.
1. Apart

A fic for Colloyd day 2019, set between the end of the first game and the start of the second game, when Lloyd and Colette are apart. Part of a collaboration with Darkhymns (who wrote Lloyd's side, including the note I've made references to in this) and Frayed Symphony (who did illustrations).

For Frayed-Symphony and Darkhymns, thank you so much for doing a collaboration with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

Although the sun was out and the day was warm Colette shivered slightly on her way home. She knew that the Iselia villagers didn't mean to make her feel unwelcome but even though the village was bustling with people in the early afternoon she felt lonely.

She understood that some people disapproved of some of the things that had happened because of the journey she and her companions had been on, and that with some of the rumours and threats towards her, especially from the Vanguard, that people might be reluctant to even stop and talk to her because they feared being seen with her, but even just a smile or a nod might have brightened the mood.

Sighing quietly she opened the door to her house and called out to let her father and grandmother know she was back, placing the food she had gone out to buy in the kitchen. Even here things felt a little awkward. Her father and grandmother hadn't expected to see her again after the journey of regeneration, and the fact that she was alive and also asking to no longer be referred to by the title she'd had her whole life was taking some getting used to, for all of them.

Not receiving a reply and remembering that her father and grandmother had mentioned that they might be going out themselves earlier she realised she had the house to herself. She climbed the stairs and sat on her bed, reaching into a bag to find the note that Lloyd had left her. She had been confused and sad when she'd first found it and realised that he'd gone somewhere without her, but with no clue as to where he might be she'd decided to stay in Iselia, figuring that they were more likely to find each other if she stayed in the same place, otherwise they might end up travelling in opposite directions or continually missing each other. She'd also hoped that he would return quickly, but there was no sign of him yet.

He had been around for most of her life, and even though he hadn't lived in the village she had seen him at school most days and knew that he was only a fairly short distance away when he was at Dirk's house. He'd been with her for nearly the whole of the journey and then they'd been travelling together trying to find Exspheres. Suddenly being without him, not even knowing where he was or when he would return, felt strange and very wrong.

She frowned slightly as her eyes wandered across the now very familiar letters on the page, remembering the day when she'd written a note to him before she had left on the journey of regeneration. On the one hand she felt like she understood, having done something similar herself, but on the other because she knew what she'd been going through when she'd written her note she was worried about where he might be and what he might be doing, and sad that he'd done this knowing how it felt to find a note rather than your friend who you expected to be there. At least he had left a note, she thought, and had acknowledged that what he had done by writing a note and leaving rather than staying to talk was so similar and familiar.

She sighed, somehow feeling even more lonely than before. She needed to see a friendly face, she decided, and knew where she could find one.

A short while later she had left a note telling her father and grandmother where she was going, shaking her head at the irony but as she hadn't known where they were she hadn't known where to go to talk to them in person and she had felt the need to leave as soon as possible now she had decided to. She had packed a bag with a few clothes and supplies and was walking along the reassuringly familiar path and bridge, heading towards Dirk's door, when she saw Noishe at the side of the house. She squeaked his name in surprise and ran over to him as he barked in delight and ran towards her. They met in the middle and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his fur. If Noishe was here then maybe...

Dirk opened the door, curious about why Noishe was barking, and smiled gently when he saw Colette. He greeted her and she looked over to him.

"Hi Dirk. Is Lloyd..." her voice trailed off as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry lass, I don't know where he is. He said he was going to help a friend, and left Noishe here because he needed to travel light. I thought he might be back with you by now perhaps," he said, a hopeful tone in his voice. Colette mirrored the gesture he'd made at her question.

"Why don't you come in? I just put the kettle on the stove if you'd like a drink," he offered. Colette nodded and followed him in, Noishe following close behind.

As Colette sat at the table, hands cupped around the warm mug, she felt herself relax a little. Dirk's house always felt warm, inviting and safe, and his face was open and friendly, so different to those she'd been seeing in the village. Suddenly she was unable to stop herself from telling him about everything that had happened, the words and worries pouring out before she realised how much she was saying.

She blinked as she finished, tears starting to trickle from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, you're probably so worried yourself and I," she started, but stopped, surprised, as the dwarf lightly hugged her. Noishe gave a soft whine and moved closer to her to nuzzle her.

"It's OK," Dirk said. "And you're welcome to stay here, if you want to."

"I was just going to ask if I could camp in your garden, I needed to leave the village and wanted to go somewhere safe but I don't want to be a bother," Colette said.

"Nonsense, it'd be nice to have some company," Dirk said. Colette nodded slightly as she realised that Lloyd not being around must feel even weirder for Dirk, as he'd seen him every day until the journey of regeneration, and hadn't seen him much since, although they had made sure to stop by when they could.

"If, if you're sure," Colette said quietly.

Dirk had insisted, and had said that she should stay in Lloyd's room.

"I'm sure he'd want you to be comfortable. He cares very much about you, you mean a lot to him," Dirk said.

"I, I care about him very much too." Colette said quietly, holding her hands together and looking down at her lap, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "I'm so worried about him, I know he's strong and can look after himself but if something happened to him..."

"He wouldn't have left you unless it was absolutely necessary, I'm sure of that," Dirk reassured her, his voice gentle.

"The last thing he'd want to do in the world would be to hurt you. And I'm sure, whatever he's doing, he'll be careful and come back to you as soon as he can. I think being apart from you is something he'll be finding very hard, he..." Dirk continued, stopping mid sentence as if he'd realised he was saying too much.

"He, what?" Colette asked quietly, her head slightly tipped to one side.

"No, it's, just, you should know that you're special to him. It's not my place to say more," Dirk said, before quickly changing the subject to ask what she'd like for dinner.

Colette frowned slightly, trying to process what Dirk had said and wondering if it meant what she thought it might mean, before shaking her head to clear it and asking what he had in the kitchen and if she could help cook.

Over the following days Colette settled in to a routine, helping Dirk with chores around the house, and even helping him with some of his work as the dwarf taught her some basic things she could pick up fairly easily. She spent a lot of time with Noishe too, brushing his coat and hugging him. The sadness she felt at missing Lloyd didn't go away, but it was good to be somewhere safe where she felt welcome and at home, to be useful and even learn new things.

Nights were worse though, when she lay in bed, feeling the absence of Lloyd's presence that, up until recently, had always been close. Even when the group had stayed at an inn she knew he was only down the hall, and when they'd been travelling looking for Exspheres, just the two of them, they had always shared a twin room. Being in his room, surrounded by some of his things and even, faintly, his smell, somehow both helped but also made her feel his absence even more. She missed him so much it was painful, quite literally at times when she felt a dull ache in her chest.

On a particularly difficult night she couldn't sleep, turning over this way and that and rearranging the pillow several times. Eventually she gave up and sat up, pulling the extra blanket that was sitting at the end of the bed around her shoulders. Stepping carefully and quietly, not wanting her footsteps to disturb Dirk downstairs, she walked over to the balcony and let herself out on to it, sitting on the floor and gently leaning her arms on the railings. The night was warm, with a gentle breeze, and the sky was clear.

She looked up at the stars which, now that the two worlds were reunited, were a little different than they had been before, but still somehow familiar. She had spent many nights when she had been unable to sleep looking up at the stars and she found herself spotting some of the patterns she had seen in the past amongst all the bright dots. As she did so the thought that now that the two worlds were combined again Lloyd would definitely be under the same sky as her was comforting. Wherever he was even if the view was different it would still be the same stars.

She spotted a particularly bright one and concentrated on it, wondering if Lloyd was looking up at the stars tonight and could see them too. She hoped that he was, and that he was maybe even looking at the same one as her. She held on to that thought, hugging the blanket tightly around her shoulders, for a while, listening to the quiet sounds of the river and forest around her. Then she stood up and moved back to the bed. If they were both under the same sky then surely they'd be able to find each other again. Perhaps in the morning she might go in to the village and try to ask if anyone might have any clues as to where he was.

And when she found him, she decided, she would tell him how much he meant to her and that she loved him. She had been nervous about doing so before, worried that perhaps changing their relationship from friends to something more might be awkward. Having been apart from him and feeling the pain she had at missing him had convinced her that telling him how she felt was something that was very important to do when she got the opportunity, and was something that, perhaps, she should have done sooner when she had had the chance before. Especially as she had wondered if the crossed out parts of his note might have been hinting at feelings he had but couldn't express at the time on paper and having heard what Dirk had said, his words giving her confidence that Lloyd might, no, did, feel the same way.

She had opened the curtains on her way back into the room and looked out of the window as she lay back down in the bed, pleased to see that she was able to spot the bright star she'd noticed earlier from the bed. That, she decided, was a good omen, a thought that helped her to finally drift off to sleep.


	2. Together After The Journey

Sequel fic to my first Colloyd Day 2019 fic (Apart). Set very shortly after the second game featuring Lloyd, Colette, Dirk and Noishe.

For Darkhymns and Frayed-Symphony.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia

* * *

Colette smiled as she walked along the path with Lloyd, holding his hand. The world was safe again, for now at least, and they had decided to return to Dirk's house to have a well earned rest. As they got nearer to the house Noishe, who was sitting outside it, spotted them and dashed over, his tail wagging with joy, barking and yipping happily. He jumped up at them and they somehow all ended up in a heap on the floor, Noishe pinning both Lloyd and Colette down, nuzzling them and licking them and expressing his joy at seeing them again with his whole body wagging.

Colette and Lloyd laughed, hugging Noishe and stroking his fur and telling him that they'd missed him then looked up over at the door as it opened and Dirk appeared in the doorway.

"Dad!" Lloyd cheered in delight, managing to untangle himself from the pile and rush over to the dwarf, leaning down to hug him.

"Good to see you, son," Dirk smiled, returning the hug. "You too Colette."

Colette said hi and waved, still trapped underneath Noishe.

"Noishe, let her get up," Dirk tutted at the arshis. Noishe whined but moved back a little bit, just enough to let Colette stand up, and stayed right by her side as she moved over to shyly hug Dirk before stepping back to Lloyd's side and taking hold of his hand again.

"I'm so glad to see you both safe. You must be thirsty and tired, come in," he said, starting to turn back into the house before pausing and looking carefully at the two friends again, spotting something in their body language.

"You, uh, told each other..." he said, not wanting to say anything specific in case he was wrong. A nod from each of them and the blushes appearing on their faces, however, told him he wasn't.

"Congratulations!" he beamed, moving to hug them both again and patting their hands. "About time you both told each other how you felt, everyone else could see it so."

"Hey!" Lloyd yelped, huffing as Dirk gently hit his side.

"Thank you," Colette said, smiling.

They all went into the house, Noishe close on Lloyd and Colette's heels, and Lloyd and Colette settled at the table while Dirk put the kettle on.

"So tell me, what happened, why did you go running off? Leaving Colette without explaining properly, you'd better have a good reason," Dirk said, giving Lloyd a stern look, although he was certain that Lloyd did.

Lloyd took a deep breath, thinking about where to start with the explanation.

"It was a quest from Martel, you know, the World Tree's summon spirit, she said I needed to go alone because of the danger of the cores possibly making other people reveal the tree's name, oh, wait, I need to explain the cores," Lloyd groaned, gratefully accepting the mug that his father placed on the table in front of him.

He sipped his drink, gathering his thoughts for a moment before continuing, explaining everything that had happened, with help from Colette.

"And now everything seems to be safe again so we," Lloyd paused as his stomach growled. He frowned slightly as he noticed that the light coming through the window was at a different angle and was a different colour than it had been when they had first sat down at the table.

"Need to have a nap, and something to eat," Dirk said, smiling, as Colette tried to hide a yawn.

"We should help cook," Colette said.

"Nonsense, you two have saved the world, twice now, least you deserve is a home cooked meal," Dirk said. "You sleep, I'll wake you when dinner's ready."

Later that evening, happily full having eaten a delicious meal, and ready for bed having changed and brushed her teeth, Colette paused before opening the bathroom door, thinking about what Dirk had said when he'd woken them up and had been serving dinner. He'd told them that he'd put fresh sheets on the bed but wasn't sure if they'd want to use one of their camping sleeping bags or to share the bed so he'd just left a few extra blankets and pillows on the bed but to let him know if they needed anything else.

Previously she'd probably have insisted that Lloyd could have the bed and she'd sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor, but having spent the time when Lloyd was on his mission to find the cores apart from him and having felt the pain and sadness that she had when she was, and having wished she could have told him how she felt about him sooner, she decided that it was important to be a little bolder now.

She walked out of the bathroom and went to Lloyd's bedroom, where she found him in his pyjamas sitting on the bed.

"About what Dirk said earlier," she said, a little shyly. "If you don't mind then I think maybe it might be nice to, uh."

The blush that had appeared on her face when the dwarf had mentioned sharing reappeared. She'd been grateful that Dirk had had his back to them at that point, concentrating on the pots on the stove, so he hadn't seen the bright red she was sure her face must have gone.

"I think, that is, if you want to, it might be nice too, but only if you want, I'll sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag if," Lloyd started, but stopped as Colette sat beside him and took hold of one of his hands.

He turned and hugged her, smiling as she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his chest, sighing happily. Then they stood up and pulled the quilt back.

"Which side do you want?" Lloyd asked. Colette said she didn't mind so he laid down and shuffled as far as he could to the far side of the bed to give her as much room as possible.

She got in beside him, shyly keeping to the side herself, facing him and holding out a hand. He took it with one of his own, smiling softly, the expression on his face mirroring hers. Sleeping facing one another, holding hands, was familiar from when they would sleep in their sleeping bags beside one another when they were camping. Feeling comfortable with the familiarity the pair soon drifted off to sleep.

Over the following nights they gradually became less shy and moved closer to each other, until they were comfortable sleeping cuddled together, Colette resting her head on Lloyd's chest.

One night they hadn't pulled the curtains fully together and a little of the night sky showed through the gap. Lloyd frowned slightly as he realised, and asked if he should get up and close them properly. Colette shook her head slightly.

"I left the curtains open one night when I stayed here before I left to find you," Colette said. "I liked looking out at one of the stars, I was hoping you could see it too, wherever you were. I guess that's kinda silly isn't it?"

"It's not, I looked up at the stars too, thinking about you, when we were apart," Lloyd replied.

"I wonder if the really bright one's out tonight," Colette said, moving and getting out of the bed. She grabbed one of the blankets at the end of the bed and passed the other to Lloyd, wrapping hers around her shoulders as he did the same.

They stepped out onto the balcony and Colette gazed up at the sky while Lloyd looked at her, smiling, her face full of wonder as she searched for the star.

"Ah, there it is!" she exclaimed happily as she spotted it, pointing up at the one she'd found on that night so many nights ago.

"Oh, I saw that one when I was near Flanoir!" Lloyd beamed, happy at the thought that they'd been looking at the same star.

"I was so worried about you, I hoped that you were OK and that you could see the sky and maybe even the same star, that's, it's," Colette said, words failing her as she decided what she wanted to say could be best expressed with a tight hug.

Lloyd smiled softly at her and returned the hug, nuzzling the top of her head with his cheek.

"I love you so much Colette," he said softly, the tone of his voice tender.

"I love you too, Lloyd," Colette replied, leaning up to kiss him.

They stayed on the balcony for a while, switching between holding one another, kissing and gazing up at the stars, until the breeze picked up and Colette shivered slightly. Taking her hand in his Lloyd kissed the top of her head and they walked back to the bed, curling up close together holding one another as they both fell into a contented, deep sleep.


End file.
